lip

noun

\ ˈlip

Definition of lip

(Entry 1 of 4)

1 : either of two fleshy folds that surround the mouth in humans and many other vertebrates and are organs of human speech essential to certain articulations also : the red or pinkish margin of the human lip

2 slang : back talk

3a : a fleshy edge or margin (as of a wound)

b : labium

c : labellum sense 1

d : a limb of a labiate corolla

4a : the edge of a hollow vessel or cavity

b : a projecting edge: such as

(1) : the beveled upper edge of the mouth of an organ flue pipe

(2) : the sharp cutting edge on the end of a tool (such as an auger)

(3) : a short spout (as on a pitcher)

c : edge sense 2

5 : embouchure

lip

adjective

Definition of lip (Entry 2 of 4)

1 : insincere lip praise

2 : produced with the participation of the lips : labial lip consonants

lip

verb

lipped; lipping

Definition of lip (Entry 3 of 4)

transitive verb

1 : to touch with the lips especially : kiss

2 : utter

3 : to lap against : lick

4 : to hit (a putt) so that the ball hits the edge of the cup but fails to drop in —usually used with out

intransitive verb

: to hit the edge of the cup without dropping in —used with out the putt lipped out

lip-

combining form

variants: or lipo-

Definition of lip- (Entry 4 of 4)

: fat : fatty tissue : fatty lipoid lipoprotein

Other Words from lip Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about lip

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Examples of lip in a Sentence

Noun

He had a cut on his lip. She was nervously biting her lip. the lips of a wound the lip of a crater the lip of a pitcher

Adjective

part of the ritual of the awards ceremony is the nominee's lip praise for the performances of his or her competitors

Verb

the waves, reflecting the red glow of the sunset, gently lipped the prow

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The request covers products including a possible perfume, bath and shower gels, beauty masks, lip gloss, nail polish, and deodorant, WWD reports. — Lauren Rearick, Teen Vogue, "Kendall Jenner Is Reportedly Working on a Line of Beauty Products," 9 May 2019 Back in 2016, Jenner teamed up with Estée Lauder's Estée Edit on a lip gloss made with blue undertones to make teeth appear whiter. — Jessica Radloff, Glamour, "Kendall Jenner Wants You to Instagram Your Toothpaste," 24 Apr. 2019 The collection features porcelain trays, coasters, and boxes emblazoned with a silver hemp leaf on a black background or a sultry pair of red lips dangling a smoke. — Jennifer Milne, ELLE Decor, "In Time for 4/20, the Ultimate and Uber-Chic Weed Accessories from Jonathan Adler," 19 Apr. 2019 Sure, the faces barely move still, and the lip-sync is messy, but the characters look slightly less dead-behind-the-eyes. — Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, "This week in games: Borderlands 3 teased for PAX East, Dwarf Fortress is coming to Steam," 15 Mar. 2019 The only contrasting color in the ensemble came from her miniature white box bag by Mark Cross, because naturally, even her bright pop of lip gloss matched perfectly with the color palette. — Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, "Jennifer Lopez's Head-to-Toe Neon Coral Outfit is Brighter Than My Future," 17 Dec. 2018 Her makeup is expertly applied, but somehow seems looser; the pigments aren't hemmed in by the keen-edged eyeliner and lip liner that midcentury fashions demanded. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Marin Hinkle On the Scene That Gave Her Hives," 8 Dec. 2018 The brand, known for nude lip liners and lipsticks, generated roughly $350 million in sales in 2017, according to a person familiar with the matter. — Jaewon Kang, WSJ, "Celebrities Like Kylie Jenner Are Upending the $52 Billion Beauty Industry," 28 Nov. 2018 Grace recalls her earliest beauty memory as watching her mom put on her lip liner. — Hannah Miller, Harper's BAZAAR, "This is How Supermodel Grace Elizabeth Gets Ready for the Biggest Fashion Party of the Year," 10 Sep. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Just to put that in perspective, most Kylie Cosmetics lip kits are priced at $30, which translates to roughly 1,518 sold every two hours to bring in that kind of cash. — Abby Gardner, Glamour, "Kylie Jenner Makes More Money in Two Hours Than Most Americans Do in a Year," 8 Aug. 2018 Customers can currently purchase an array of beauty products aside from lip kits, which are now available in a variety of shades. — Zoe Szathmary, Fox News, "Kylie Jenner's career highlights, from makeup mogul to Forbes cover girl," 19 July 2018 There's no word on what the complete collection will include, yet, but the video does seem to point to lip products and a set of possible eyeshadow. — Lauren Rearick, Teen Vogue, "Patrick Starrr Announced His Destination Diva MAC Cosmetics Collection," 22 Aug. 2018 The collection consists of four lipsticks ($18.50), two lip pencils ($18), four lip glosses ($17.50), an eye palette ($32) and a bronzing powder ($28), all of which are inspired by Aaliyah’s music videos and most popular looks. — Alexa Tietjen | Wwd, latimes.com, "How Instagram willed a MAC X Aaliyah collaboration to fruition," 19 June 2018 To stop lip color from migrating into lines, pretreat the area around the mouth with concealer: Using your fingertip, lightly dot on one that contains reflective particles. — Abbie Kozolchyk, Good Housekeeping, "Best Tips and Tools to Whiten Your Smile," 7 Jan. 2011 Not using a lip brush turned out to be my problem with the Fenty Beauty lip paint. — Marisa Meltzer, The Seattle Times, "How to do a makeup look in 5 minutes, tops," 7 Sep. 2018 While most of us would be left fumbling in the moments when Jenner bakes her face at warp speed or applies lip liner with her eyes closed, Manny fully manages to pull it off — and even swaps some of her hero products for more affordable versions. — Zoe Weiner, Allure, "Watch Manny MUA Flawlessly Recreate Kylie Jenner’s Entire Makeup Routine," 9 July 2018 Gonna miss the pink 💞🍬👛🌸🍭🎀 A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Mar 9, 2018 at 7:44am PST Wearing @kkwbeauty lipstick shade 3 in the center and 4 all over with lip liner 2. — Chloe Metzger, Marie Claire, "Kim Kardashian Just Dyed Her Hair Dark, Inky Blue," 13 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Investigators are being tight-lipped about the case, saying holding back basic details may help solve it. — Fox News, "Reward for missing University of Iowa student hits $260,000," 6 Aug. 2018 The drop includes six shades each of highlighter ($10), jelly shadows ($8), lipstick bullets ($8), and lip gloss ($7), plus two glitter pastes ($10), plus a 15-pan eye shadow palette ($22). — Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, "ColourPop's New Disney Villains Makeup Collection Is the Badass Collab You've Been Waiting For," 20 Mar. 2019 There were guys who lip synced to the Pokémon song. — Eric Johnson, Recode, "‘Eighth Grade’ director Bo Burnham is happy that a lot of people ‘have no idea who I am’," 30 July 2018 All will lip sync for their lives in a bracket-style battle before RuPaul crowns a winner. — Dave Quinn, PEOPLE.com, "RuPaul's Drag Race Season 1 Queens Join Season 10 Cast for Epic Finale Lip Sync," 28 June 2018 Because of technical limitations on floats, performers at the Thanksgiving Day Parade commonly lip-sync during the live telecast. — Kelly O'sullivan, Country Living, "Kelly Clarkson's Performance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Has Everyone Talking," 26 Nov. 2018 Both sides in the special counsel’s case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn are staying tight-lipped after a judge demanded information about why Flynn’s sentencing is once again being delayed. — Alex Pappas, Fox News, "Mueller, Flynn give vague response when judge demands answers on sentencing delays," 2 July 2018 In the past month, law enforcement agencies around the country have been posting videos of officers lip syncing and challenging other departments to do the same. — Asia Fields, The Seattle Times, "Lip-syncing cops in Virginia challenge Seattle police in viral video," 10 July 2018 His pitch was pretty good given the circumstances, but his putt from about 12-feet lipped out, leaving for a bogey. — Adam Woodard, USA TODAY, "Tiger Tracker: Follow Tiger Woods' Saturday round at his tournament, the Quicken Loans National," 30 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lip.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for lip

Noun

Middle English, from Old English lippa; akin to Old High German leffur lip and probably to Latin labium, labrum lip

Combining form

New Latin, from Greek, from lipos — more at leave

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Learn More about lip

Dictionary Entries near lip

Statistics for lip

Last Updated

15 May 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for lip

The first known use of lip was before the 12th century

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More Definitions for lip

lip

noun

English Language Learners Definition of lip

: either one of the two soft parts that surround the mouth

: the edge of a cut or hole

: the edge of a container especially where it is slightly spread out

See the full definition for lip in the English Language Learners Dictionary

lip

noun

\ ˈlip

Kids Definition of lip

1 : either of the two folds of flesh that surround the mouth

2 : the edge of a hollow container (as a jar) especially where it is slightly spread out

3 : an edge (as of a wound) like or of flesh

4 : an edge that sticks out the lip of a roof

lip

noun

\ ˈlip

Medical Definition of lip

1 : either of the two fleshy folds which surround the opening of the mouth in humans and many other vertebrates and in humans are organs of speech essential to certain articulations also : the pinkish or reddish margin of a human lip composed of nonglandular mucous membrane and usually exposed when the mouth takes on its natural set

2 : an edge of a wound

3 : either of a pair of fleshy folds surrounding an orifice

4 : an anatomical part or structure (as a labium) resembling a lip